Williams honored as Festival Director of the Year; Festivals bring home awards

N.C. Pickle Festival Co-chairman Lynn Williams suspected something was afoot when instead of finding the bottle of water she was searching for she discovered her mother, husband and grandson hiding out in a break room.

She began backing out as her husband Michael said, “What are you doing here?”

Minutes later the secret was finally out when Julie Beck, festival co-chair, announced that Williams had been named the N.C. Association of Festivals & Events Director of the Year.

Beck had arranged for Williams’ family to be present at the announcement made Monday, Feb. 3, during the N.C. Pickle Festival’s first planning session of the year.

“I was so stunned I didn’t say one word,” Williams said. “I knew something was up because I just literally backed out of the room. I shut the door, and I didn’t say a word to them. I thought holy cow what are they up to now?

“In a way I am glad I got a little bit of a heads-up before they dropped it on me because I realize what the Director of the Year is. That it is a statewide award. I was just floored. It is quite an honor, and there are a lot of really good people and directors across the state, really good festivals and events. So it is a big dill — ‘d-i-l-l’. They got me, absolutely.”

Later her husband told her the look on her face had been priceless.

No one deserves it more, said Beck and Melissa Kilpatrick, festival administrator.

Beck also announced at the meeting that the festival had won five other awards — more than any other festival in the state — and that the Pickles, Pigs and Swigs event had captured one as well.

The awards were Best Poster for the festival’s James Bond theme; Best Merchandise for the dill pickle soda created by R&R Brewing; Best Brochure (that won for the second time in as many years) for the festival map; and Best Non-Print Media for a pictorial stamp.

Beck worked with a woman from Durham to create a pictorial stamp. Anyone who mailed something through the Mount Olive Post Office received the stamp (not a postage stamp) on the item.

“It won because it was so unique and different,” Beck said. “I mailed a post card to myself so I would have a stamp.

“I am pretty sure that a lot of festivals are going to try to figure that out for next year.”

Pickles, Pigs and Swigs won Best Merchandise for its hats.

The awards were presented during the N.C. Association of Festivals & Events annual Showfest held Jan. 29-30 in Charlotte that was attended by Beck and Kilpatrick.

About 200 people attended the event featuring small to very large festivals, Beck said.

It is a weekend of workshops and information, and a chance to learn about trends, marketing and other topics. There is a large exhibit hall where bands, special entertainment and carnival rides set up.

It is kind of like going to a festival, Beck explained.

“So you self nominate, and we nominated our self for 23 awards for the Pickle Festival,” Beck said. “Ten of those 23 nominations were for merchandise because we had so much cool merchandise last year.

“Even though we were competing against ourselves 10 different times, our chances were good something would win, and we did win one”

Pickles, Pigs and Swigs was nominated for five awards — Best T-shirt in a small festival, Best Merchandise, Best Photo, Best Sponsor Packet and Best Community Outreach, Beck added.

“Six awards, we were ecstatic,” she said.

The competition is divided into three festival categories — small, medium and large based not on the number of attendees, but on budget, she said.

Pickles, Pigs and Swigs is in the small category and the Pickle Festival is at the upper limit of the medium category and is on the cusp of moving into the large category, Beck explained.

There are five awards that it doesn’t matter what category you fall in, you compete against all other festival and events — including Director of the Year won by Williams.

Beck said that neither Williams or Kilpatrick had known she had nominated Williams for Director of the Year.

At the end of the month, Beck is traveling to the regional festival conference in Chattanooga, Tenn. where the festival will compete against festival in 12 states.

“We only nominated ourselves for three awards — our poster, our T-shirts and the dill pickle soda,” she said.

It has only been once or twice over the past 25 years that the festival has failed to win any awards, Beck said.

“We have always won at least one (award annually) and have won as many as seven (state awards at one time),” she said. “It is really all about nominating yourself because no one knows your festival like you do.

“So you have got to toot your own horn — what is so unique about your event, your activities, your people that nobody else would know about.”

The Director of the Year is someone who has gone above and beyond doing something unique with their festival.

In her nomination, Beck said that people often put her as the face of the Pickle Festival so she wanted to tell all of the things that Williams does.

Williams oversees marketing, sponsorships, security, shuttles and logistics with the University of Mount Olive and town. In addition, she creates online forms for vendors, sponsors and festival sporting events.

Beck found out Williams won the award as soon as she arrived at Showfest, but kept it a secret.

When people start asking about what awards the festival had won, the Director of the Year just wasn’t mentioned, she added. Nor has it been mentioned on social media.

At the initial Pickle Festival planning committee meeting, held in the Mt. Olive Pickle Co. board room, arrangements were made for Williams’ family to attend, unbeknownst to Williams.

Beck brought refreshments, but forgot bottled water.

Williams was determined to get a bottle of water and went into the little kitchen in the building where her family had been stashed.

“She knew something was up, but had no idea she had won Director of the Year,” Beck said. “I had her family come into the room, read the nomination out loud.”

Williams said that in typical fashion that he had had no idea about the honor.

In her nomination letter, Beck noted that Williams has served as festival co-chair for 15 years, but really stepped up her game in 2024 when the festival attracted a record crowd of 60,000. Not bad for a town of 4,500, she wrote.

“This is due in part to Lynn’s diligent work in marketing our festival through radio, television, magazines, newspapers and social media,” Beck wrote. “Lynn brought in more sponsorship dollars (both cash and in-kind,) in our 38-year history.

“As public relations director at Mt. Olive Pickle Co., Lynn has established long-term relationships with companies who were eager to be part of our award-winning event.”

The festival has grown immensely since COVID, and Williams has reorganized how people are transported to and from the festival as well as how to keep participants and visitors safe, the letter continues.

In the letter, Beck calls Williams the guru of all online form and communications.

In addition, she meet regularly and maintains communications with the mayor and town manager to ensure they understand the festival footprint, activities and requirements, Beck wrote.

Beck wrote that as the other co-chair, she is “dill-lighted” to work with Williams.

“I am the big dreamer and bring in lots of unique event to our festival,” Beck wrote. “Lynn is detail oriented and always figures out how to make them work. Lynn will be the first to tell you that I have all of the fun tasks and she does the boring stuff, but that is because she is good at what she does. In short, Lynn Williams is the secret weapon to the North Carolina Pickle Festival’s success.

“Most people recognize me as our festival champion, but honestly, Lynn is the cog in the wheel that makes it all work. Together, we make an amazing team and I would relish if she was recognized as Director of the Year. Lynn Williams is a big dill!”